The Power of 2s!

The Power of 2s  

“The secret of getting ahead is getting started.” -MARK TWAIN 

James Clear set out to draft the greatest book ever written about building and maintaining habits. Given that 20 million people have already purchased his book, he has a compelling argument that he may have accomplished this goal. The guy 10x-ed his competition.  

 I am not going to attempt to summarize the amazingness of Atomic Habits in a 3- minute online article, but I would like to outline what he refers to as his number one strategy (if he could only choose one). I am combining his favorite strategy with my favorite strategy, and both involve the number 2. Clear’s choice is the 2-minute rule. The 2-minute rule requires you to break down the new desired habit into the smallest form. Working out becomes putting your shoes on, walking out the door and coming back inside [less than 2 minutes to complete]. He uses Newton’s law of motion to explain why this strategy works. You create the inertia to change your identity to become the person you desire to become. Jordan Peterson said that his clients find accomplishing the change they want difficult, not because the change is too hard, but because the start of the road to change is so easy that they feel guilty for not starting yet. “The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step.” - Lao Tzu.   

To complete the power of 2s! I combine the 2-minute rule with another rule from ‘Atomic Habits’ called never miss twice. Never miss twice is a new habit savior. Most people start a diet and do well for a week, a few days, or maybe at least until lunchtime and then it happens... Your job bought takeout for employee appreciation week for lunch in the breakroom, and it is from your favorite Italian restaurant and your broccoli and quinoa just does not look as dazzling as it did before you smelled those luscious carbohydrates. Never miss twice is a way to have your carbs and eat them too! The catch is you only cheat once, not twice! If you do not have the rule of never miss twice you will be eating carbs all employee appreciation week and you can kiss your habit and slimming waste line goodbye. I believe in a 90%/10% lifestyle so you can still enjoy life but make the changes that you want to make and progress into the person you desire to be.  

This article starts to address the “how" to get healthy/change your life, but I must stress the importance of having a “why" first and then moving to “how." Once you obtain a “why" you can use the 2-minute rule and never miss twice to become unstoppable. Break any habit into the first initial step to create the inertia you need to start the change and then never miss twice. Want to start meditating? Get in position, meditate for one minute, go an entire month without missing, and now you can start calling yourself a meditator. Although according to this article it takes an average of 66 days to create a new habit so I would suggest making it 2-3 months to make sure you have a solid foundation to build from. You want to become a reader, read one page every day and become a reader. Clear says that you start to make this habit a part of your identity and eventually you will feel comfortable adding complexity to your new habit/identity. In my last article, I wrote about how important it is to change your identity to progress and achieve optimal health. Use these two rules and become the best version of yourself!!! 

If you think this newsletter is motivating and helps you to progress with your motivation and health, please send it to people you care about that might benefit from reading it. Much love and good luck on making progress and getting healthy!